This film, rejected by Sunny Deol and Ajay Devgn, helped revive Akshay Kumar's career, earned three times its budget, lead actress was..., movie is..

Akshay Kumar, who is currently enjoying the release of his latest film, Housefull 5, has appeared in over 150 films in his career spanning more than 30 years. Akshay Kumar made his debut in the film industry with a lead role in the 1991 film Saugandh. Over the years, Akshay Kumar became an integral part of many films, however, he failed to achieve the star status or commercial success he hoped for. But, all that changed after the release of the 1999 film Jaanwar, directed and produced by Suneel Darshan, co-starring Karisma Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty along with Akshay Kumar. Made on a budget of Rs 4 crore, Jaanwar earned over Rs 12 crore at the box office, not only becoming a commercial success but also reviving Akshay Kumar's career, which was riddled with many flop films until now. 

Jaanwar might have helped revive Akshay Kumar's star status, however, you will be surprised to know that 'Khiladi Kumar' was not Suneel Darshan's first choice when he set out to make this film. 

In a recent interview with India Today, Suneel Darshan revealed that Jaanwar was initially meant to feature Sunny Deol and later Ajay Devgn, who both opted out of the project. "Jaanwar was not written for Akshay. The film was originally planned with Sunny Deol. We were nearly set to go ahead when we had a fallout over some very ugly issues. Those issues are still pending. So I decided to move forward and find someone else," he said. 

Suneel Darshan further added, "Ajay (Devgn) and I met on a Saturday and agreed on the film. We were supposed to finalise everything that Monday, but Sunday changed everything," as the director got an unexpected call, "It was from someone I had never met before—Akshay Kumar. He was very keen to meet immediately. I invited him over, and he said he wanted to do Jaanwar. He asked me, ‘Would you consider making the film with me?'" 

Suneel Darshan said he was initially vary about casting Akshay Kumar as the actor, at the time, "was going through the worst phase of his career". Suneel Darshan then said, "But I thought, ‘Here’s a good-looking, disciplined actor willing to give 100% of himself.’ He even told me, ‘Sir, I will offer you 100% of myself.’ That stayed with me."

Released in December 1999, Jaanwar marked a turning point in Akshay Kumar’s career, and the rest, as they say, is history. 

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